For decades, as I have had the privilege of ministering to women, I have heard the same heart-cry from those who desire to have a deep, intimate, exuberant relationship with Christ but don’t know how to find it.

Here’s part of one email:

Here’s the crux of my problem. After I gave my life to Christ, I joined a church and began reading the Bible daily. Yet, I never experienced that overwhelming feeling of change that so many others experience. In my quiet times, when I seek to know Him better and wait quietly for answers, I do not get the nudges that others talk about. I know that some people hit rock bottom and then experience a dramatic life change accompanied by an emotional high. I sometimes wonder if I will have to experience some great trial in order to have the wonderful feelings of a true relationship with Christ.

I try to start each day with quiet time, scripture reading and prayer. I try to have a God-focused day. Is something wrong with me? Do other women feel this emptiness too? Should I be feeling something more? What more should I be doing? I know Christ loves me, but something is missing and I don’t even know what it is. What should I do?

—Stephanie (Not her real name. Used by permission.)

Perhaps you can relate. You long to feel close to God but sense there’s just something lacking, that you’ve missed the mysterious formula to make it happen. I call this a “glory ache” —a persistent longing to experience God’s presence on a daily basis. Perhaps like most women, you’ve tried desperately to balance the montage of mundane demands and somehow slip God into the white spaces that are few and far between. You long to spend time in the sacred with God, but find the desire crowded out by the responsibilities of the secular—the daily demands—that lay claim to your attention. You yearn to experience God’s presence, but feel far away from Him as you reach to click off the bedside lamp and collapse exhausted once again. Maybe tomorrow, you sigh.

The travesty is that we allow the busyness of life to crowd out the Source of life. As the Psalmist wrote, “We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing” (Psalm 39:6 NLT). Ann Voskamp echoes that lament: “In a world addicted to speed, I blur the moments into one unholy smear.”

And in that unholy smear, that blur of the world passing quickly by, we know something’s not quite right. So we strike out to make it all better. And most of us are quick to think ‘something more’ means ‘doing more.’ We ramp it up and gun the engines—sign up for a new committee, volunteer for a new cause, bake one more casserole to feed the sick. We attempt to silence the hunger pains of the heart by feeding it the bread and water of duty. And at the end of the day, while we might feel a self-induced sense of well-being, the hollowness in our soul that can only be satisfied with God echoes with the grumblings of hunger still.

We long for a sense of closeness with God, but we have a hard time putting our finger on exactly what that closeness would look like. It’s just something more. Something different. A flavor we have yet to taste. A country we have yet to visit. A sunset we have yet to experience. A lover we have yet to embrace. There has to be something more, we cry! And we are quite right. We are craving the closeness that comes with an intimate relationship with Jesus.

So we try so harder. We go to Bible studies, attend church, say our prayers, and read our devotions. Check, check, check. And yet, we constantly feel that we are somehow letting God down. With the last amen of the day, we sigh, What more does God want from me?

And here’s the thing. We’re asking the wrong question. It is not what God wants from you. It is what God wants for you. Abundant life (John 10:10). Constant communion with Him. Intimate union with Him.

He’s inviting you into intimate union. Right now. Right where you are. Perhaps you need to stop trying to get what you already have and simply grab hold.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, soothe my glory ache with Your presence. Help me to stay in constant communion and union with You. Forgive me when I think the glory ache can be satisfied by anything or anyone besides You, and wander off to other lovers. You, Lord, are my stream of Living Water to quench every thirst.

What Do You Think?

What or who have you turned to to satisfy that ache for something more in your life? Food? People? Money? Ministry?

Do you tend to ask God what He wants from you or for you?

How would you describe the abundant life Jesus talked about in John 1010?

If you can relate to Stephanie and her email, leave a comment that says…”I can relate!”

Want More?
Do you long to feel close to God but sense there’s something missing? That you’ve missed that mysterious formula to make it happen? Do have a glory ache – a persistent longing to experience God’s presence and working in your life, but not quite sure how to make it happen? If so, my new book, A Sudden Glory: God’s Lavish Response to Your Ache for Something More, is just for you. Join me and discover how to erase the lines between the secular and the sacred and experience a deeper more intimate relationship with God than ever before.

52 Responses to The Ache for Something More

i can relate very much. am i have an emptiness or longing and once i shop for good things like clothes or jewellery or perfumes i get a short term satisfaction but not complete satisfaction so i merely go in circles when the nudge comes i really need God, i want i deep relationship where i trully know that i belong in his Kingdom.

I feel like there is this expectation (like I need to arrive,) like I haven’t arrived you know?
I strive to give everything to God, and be a good example of God’s loving kindness. I grew up in a very negative family, and can’t seem to break my habit of focusing on things that are wrong instead of rejoicing about the things that are right in my life. I have been a christian since I was in college. I’m 55 years old now. So I should have arrived by now. By that I mean that I gave my life to him and have been thrilled to have a relationship with him. I just keep thinking that I’m letting the Lord down by not focusing on the good rather than the bad. It’s such an awful habit. My mother, my brothers and my sister are very negative also. Scripture has been helping me to stay on track. I have to put little notes with scriptures on it in my pockets and pull them out of my pocket and read them all day every day to stay on track with the Lord. Thankfully my Father was very positive and he accepted the Lord about a four years before he passed away. That was reassuring! I got divorced three times and now have a fourth husband who is so on fire for God, plays on a worship team, etc. and he has been a total blessing. Ironically he too was divorced three times, he didn’t want the divorces. We’re not proud of them. Anyway, I sure hope that I can quit with the negative and be someone God is proud of, and my husband is proud of. I want to be a good example for others as to the love of God with a positive cheery attitude and not repel others with my negativity. Pray for me please that I will forget the past and go forward. I was abused by my children’s father and the past keeps coming back to me. I don’t want to disappoint the Lord!

I tried to fill my ache for God with more reading, but I didn’t really reflect on things or meditate on them or asked God to illuminate them for me, so it was more of a routine or something to check off of my daily list than it was true worship and relationship. I also think that I need to be doing more at church. I always question whether I should go to Bible study or start a new ministry or take on a new challenge, but truthfully, sometimes I am just seeking the approval or praise of others. Though, I do always see the potential for Kingdom growth through my ideas, but I do not know if I really submit them to God and wait for His wisdom and His leading before I pursue them. I feel that in publishing my book, I listened, but I can look back and say that each step after that was not about what God wanted; it was about how I could use what God gave me to reach my goals. And, though I was praising Him and speaking of Him, I think deep down inside, I just wanted to do what would me happy, not what would give me joy. I was seeking material blessings and recognition and trying to fill the hole in my life that could only be filled by God with something else. I always thought I just did that with relationships, but now I am realizing that I am seeking satisfaction from everything else in my life and God. I should be satisfied with God and grateful for everything else. God doesn’t owe me anything. He has given me everything I need and promised me the desires of my heart. It would be nice to achieve my goals, but my satisfaction should not be based on checking off accomplishments. It should be based on being in the very Presence of God. No person or job or possession is ever going to fill that empty place. I have to seek after and long after and yearn for God and bask in His Glory to be full and then to overflow.

I wrote this song as a response to a “glory ache” and the desire to live the abundant life God has planned for me.

Basking in Your Glory
Yearning for Your Touch
Hungry for more of You
Please, Lord, fill me up
You promised life abundant
Satisfied by only You
There is nothing, no one greater
Who can love me like You do

Change me with Your
Mighty Power
Lord, my soul
Each day renew
Rain down on me
In this hour
Cover me with
Mercy new

Oh how I can relate! I am trying desperately to feel God’s presence in my life. My “glory ache” is powerful and I am longing for a closer relationship with Him and keep failing to find it. Thank you for this, I’m glad I’m not the only one who has this longing.

I strive to see God in my life. In the comments people say to me that hit an “on my heart issue”, in the beauty and nature of my surroundings. I sometimes when my heart is lowest am so encouraged by the simplest things. I give every thought to my God. I have had some really bad impulse control in my life. I would rather he take that. Even if it is just my approach to telling someone something I disagree with.
I give it to God first, and then proceed.
I have been a christian since childhood. I have been a christ follower the last 4 yrs. There is a difference.
My God is my best friend.
And it is in the smallest prayers being answered I realize just how much I need and rely on him.

I used to relate…I finally learned through God quickening verses to me that said “laid up for those” – “for you who are in Christ Jesus” – “for us”, etc. & suddenly it clicked. So, the first thing I do in the morning, before my feet hit the ground is to pray, “I’m listening, Holy Spirit. What do you want for me today?” Then, I look for those opportunities during the day that God just shows Himself to be God for me – it may be a simple blooming rose that He shows me that He made for me; or it may the person that He send across my life that I can tell them what He does for me on a daily basis. Life is so exciting now!!! Oh, and I still search for more of the scriptures that tell me what God wants for me, & I claim those as mine.

I can relate big time. I really thought something was wrong with me..maybe I wasn’t REALLY saved….but I have not been “trying” as hard as you wrote about. Having a truly committed relationship with the Lord has always been a struggle for me…but once again..I am trying. Thank you for this. At least I know I am not alone.

I still don’t quite get it…..we still have to go to work , and cook dinner, and wash clothes….I too make time for God every morning….I read these devotionals …have time alone out in the yard before I start my day….but we can’t just sit there all day long…at some point we have to get busy….I actually get jealous when I hear people say…I felt God telling me what I should do..or go…or whatever. I have never felt that. I joined a small group at church hoping to gain insight…but still…I feel like I’m on the outside looking in. Don’t get me wrong…I will always keep trying but wow…it was like reading a page from my own journal this morning.

Yes, I can relate. And I was struck by this very thought recently and wrote about it on my blog too. http://www.ourstoriesgodsglory.blogspot.com/ By the way, heard you speak at Hawthorne in New Jersey, which inspired my sister and I to get your book The Power of a Woman’s Words. We have a group of about 10 women this summer reading your book and doing the workbook. Very powerful! We’ve experienced awesome sharing, support, and prayer together. Thank you!

I just want to thank you for allowing our father to use in a very special way today, I know it touch every one. I have always quoted ” he come to give life and life more abundantly” but today “life more abundantly” is father what do you want for me . I am tire carry the missing acne. Our Father knows us better than we know ourselves, he proves Himself to me all the time.

Oh Yeah!! I too well can relate………!! I’m in that phase…An emptiness / hollowness within…wondering what’s happening to me, what I’m not doing rightly… Feels terrible…At times I just break down and cry…
Thanks for today’s devotional…I needed it…
Fan of GFs in God from Kenya

I can relate, the abundant life (John 10:10) is what God Almighty our LORD wants for us so passionately that HE died on Calvary- up on that dark hill so that we could have the change to live freely and holy! JESUS CHRIST’s heart must ache when we decide to not find the abundant life that HE specially and specifically laid out for us and beautifully planned out for us before we were brought to this earth to courageously fulfill HIS Great
Commission!
And right on Loise Kariuki AMEN!!

I can relate! I keep thinking what am I doing wrong. Why is it that I don’t feel God’s presence or nudge. I am trying to hold together my life as a single parent (widow) but feel so far away from God and as if there are no positive answers. Life keeps getting in the way and the little time I have alone for quiet time usually ends up being used for other things, I don’t get it at all but I did need to read this today.

I can so relate. I sometimes feel like I am trying to live in a fairy tale – that it’s just not real – I so want Christ to be real to me and to feel Him with me – I want so badly to have a real relationship with Him – I just don’t know how – I feel like I am just going thru the motions and saynig the “right” thing – I don’t know how to make it REAL….

I am so, SO busy. I am overwhelmed with life. My 30 yr old daughter had to move back home with 3 kids after a very unhealthy and abusive relationship and my husband and I work full-time. My house is under 1000 sq. ft. Many things in my home are now dirty, stained or ruined. My husband was demoted and had to take a 3rd shift job for 1/3 less pay. I have let my healthy habits fall by the wayside and there’s no extra money most of the time…

So many women are like me, I think…carrying the weight of family, a job, finance, etc. God isn’t going to leave you alone just because you haven’t joined in with all the activities that you think you should. He knows you and what you are going through, and He wants to help! He wants to use you right where you are with all your pain and problems. He works wonders if you trust Him and recognize His gifts.

God can reveal He is close to us even when we don’t have the time to pray and bible-study, do small-group, volunteer and such. HE gives us the strength to go on. He gives gifts all day long if we just learn to see them. So, on the way to work, listening to the radio maybe you get a blessing because just the right message was there for you to hear. That’s Him! You see the sun begin to break through the dark cloud cover…that’s Him letting you know He is there for you. All the lights are green…even that is HIM blessing you on your way. Be open to Him and learn to thank Him for everything. Not every day can feel so positive, but try it.

Be thankful in all things, even the situations that haunt you and burden you, He will help you to know He’s there with you. You have a fleeting thought of your friend that you still haven’t had time to call, and then you have to stop what you’re doing to pick up the phone, only hear her voice – you just got a little gift from your Father! Take 5 mins. to enjoy it. and then thank Him. Do you feel stressed and overwhelmed? I do. A LOT! So I try to remember and think a prayer like, “Thank you God, for whatever good you are going to bring me through this. Thank you for being with me and giving me hope, thank you for working in my life.” Seem ridiculous? I thought so, too, but He knows how to bless me, I don’t. Every good thing comes from the Father and His Spirit dwells in us thru Christ. Even when we forget that, or feel far away, He’s really there. Sometimes I think He’s just waiting to be noticed. Trust Him, He is not going to desert you!!

Practice seeing everything through a thankful heart. Even the icky painful things. The first time I thanked God for a bad time, the minute the words left my mouth a giggle welled up in me. Why? I haven’t the slightest clue, other than He promised to be with us…and when we obey, He blesses. I felt the burden eased and Him there. Being thankful doesn’t take the bad times away, but it helps us to handle it. Sometimes it changes our perspective so much we CAN actually find some good in it.

My mom fell and broke her hip and I couldn’t be with her. It was horrible. She is a faithful woman, and the accident occurred in the church parking lot after she worked at the meal serving the homeless. She suffered so much with this injury…and we talked a lot about things. She told me she couldn’t understand why God would let that happen to her “Why did he let me fall, why didn’t He catch me or stop it or move the curb or something?” We don’t have the answers, but God does know. She knows he didn’t cause her to fall, but why didn’t he intervene? We chose to be thankful that God was going to see her through it and use it somehow for His glory. Every good thing comes from Him, and he can use the bad stuff to work good for not only us, but for all who see. I wonder how many people in the hospital and the rehab were blessed by my mom? I told her, “you know what…even I am blessed by this bad situation, because we have had so many meaningful talks about faith and trusting”. I know God used that situation for good, even if we can’t see it.

I guess what I am trying to say is TAKE HEART!! God is with you, your Saviour reigns and the Spirit is still there. Sometimes we just miss the little nudges and thoughts He sends us because we are too busy…too busy working, too busy stressing, too busy thinking, too busy just trying to feel Him. He’s still there waiting for us to stop, look and listen. For what, we may not know, but trust Him, He IS there. :O)

I can relate to Stephanie also. I have repented of my sins, read my Bible, pray and cry I feel so lonely, empty and joyless .Thankfully that don’t cause me to spend money however, It is Jesus I need not things. Only Jesus can satisify my need. I know being a Christian is a matter of faith not feeling but I don’t think most Christians feel like I do. I can’t afford to buy books but if anyone can help me put a sparkplug in my spiritual life that would be wonderful.

I was exactly in her shoes. I actually struggled with having panic-attacks and feeling really empty inside -all the time. Then my sister invited me to take a class at her church called Ashes to Beauty. In this eight week class, I was determined that I would dig really deep inside my heart and bring up any hurt and lies from the enemy. As I did that, together with anointed people praying over me, I gave up the dirt and God filled me with His truth about His love for me and who He said I am. I was actually healed from having panic-attacks because I had given up the lies of the enemy and God was filling me up with Him. After that I went to every class and church retreats that I knew there would be anointed people teaching and praying, and I got freed from many things. The more I got freed from things, the more I could feel God’s love for me in my heart. Now I feel closest to God when I’m praying. Sometimes I don’t feel God as I’m praying but I continue to press into Him because I trust Him and I know that He is faithful. The more time I give Him, the more He reveals himself to me. I pray about the things that are in my heart, because it’s in your heart that He speaks to you, and I get many questions answered that way. I also email or talk with someone who’s a strong christian leader in the church, just to bounce things off of and to confirm things.

I can relate. As I approach several changes in my life, I am determined to look up for direction. I am enrolled in online classes to complete my degree and will not attend bible study this Fall, which will be a major change for me. But, mostly, I know God will direct me to His work for the upcoming season. Abundant life is life with Jesus at every twist and turn, knowing He is for me and not against me.

I can relate, it has taken a lot of years to fully reach a point of what really matters is who I am in Jesus Christ, a seven month period of not being able to walk,” be still and know that I AM GOD”. Many other experiences of asking GOD what am I to learn from this from your viewpoint.? Paralleling am I to I AM. Glory to God for your ministry.

Jesus is in the boat with me. Thanks for an amazing reminder- that even the wind and the seas obey him. So no matter what trial, what season of hardship He has us in, the storms of life will obey Him when He says, “Peace, be still.”

I can relate! Thank you for this word. It touched my spirit because I’m dealing with a situation right now where my spirit was telling me to be still and I had been battling whether or not that is what I should be doing and then I opened this email. This was complete confirmation. Thank you so much.

Oh my !I can relate with this ,I’m always on the move .,doing this and that and Several times God tell me “be still n know that I’m God “I say to my self doh! Hename created time too and his word say that He WILL supply all our needs according to the riches in glory in Jesus Christ .so that tells me that if I stay still and listen the rest will be history cause He is in charge of everything ,Lord forgive my little faith n trust that whatever you said is truth n it will come to pass help me to understant your ways and be obedient to you to fallow your dirrections.Guideme so I would not get lost ,and help those that are in the same or similar position like my ,keep inspiring Sharon so she can still been an inspiring vessel for all who get in contact with her in Jesus name .amen!love much sonia

I can relate … sometimes what hinders you from experiencing God’s presence is a spirit of unforgiveness. I had a wonderful experience when I asked Jesus into my heart at age 12. Then went through a long time of depression because of an abusive family member. But once I learned to forgive, the flood-gates of heaven became possible. A new dawning, a light at the end of the tunnel became a reality. I have had some times when His Spirit has flooded my soul when someone prayed for me, when I was at a ladies’ conference His love overwhelmed me and I could feel love for others. In my quiet times with the Lord, He speaks to me through his Word and when I listen to his “still, small voice.” He gives me ideas for poetry and since I serve Him as secretary of our Church and do the weekly bulletins, He tells me what to put in it (verses of Scripture or a poem or short articles that I write). The main thing about hearing from God is to be in right relationship to Him by obeying His Word and wanting to please Him.

I can relate..I was just talking to my husband this morning about this same thing! I am looking for something from God and I dont know what it is! I dont know what is wrong with me. I love the Lord so much.Please pray for me. I love Girlfriends in God!

Girlfriend, you are not a loser. I don’t want to hear you say that again:) You are a precious child of God who is chosen, holy and dearly loved. You are empowered by the Holy Spirit and equipped by God. Now, how can you be a loser!

You are God-sent. I’m @ a place where I’ve been feeling so low, empty and energy-less. I try listening to God, nothing, even my prayers feel empty. I’ve been so emotional and fear that I would regress in my spiritual life. I feel like I need God to speak more in my life. After reading this morning, I do feel that Christ is in the boat with me/us. Thank you so much and i thank God for directing me to this website. May God richly bless you and your work!

I can relate….Last May i gave my life to the Lord, and was very very involved in ministry. My husband doesn’t serve, and as much as I’d like to think it didn’t, it really began to take a toll on my spiritual walk. I tried to keep peace at home by balancing out my time at home and at church. Even then, there was always fighting between my husband and I. I thought by backing off a little bit more and staying home more with my husband would be the honorable thing to do and i believed somehow someway God was going to deliver my husband in that time. That didn’t happen…..I ended up getting hurt by someone very close to me in the church (She didn’t intentionally hurt me) and i completely withdrew from EVERYONE. Soon enough I had left the church and began drinking again. My pastor’s finally called me and said they wanted to speak to me and when they did….WOW God just really opened my eyes. A few weeks prior to speaking to them I had been having nightmares about myself and about my kids. Everyday i woke up I had this anxious feeling like I knew I was doing something wrong and you don’t want to get caught. I just hit my knees a few days ago and I am slowly but surely easing back into the church. I dont like this feeling of emptiness when I know there is SO much blessing around me. I tell myself I want to feel that fire again, how did i lose it?